The draft of the new rules aims to "facilitate exchanges while making sure that those who should not enter are kept out," he said.

There were 260 million arrivals and departures to and from China from January to September this year, it stated.

The Guardian reported that China is following procedures similar to what happens in the West.

The US routinely fingerprints foreign visitors as part of the visa application process, part of tighter controls introduced after the 9/11 attacks. Britain has also introduced biometric passports, using facial recognition technology, that reduce waiting time in airports. China Daily pointed to Norway, South Korea and Switzerland as examples of countries that encode fingerprints in passports.

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